1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrolytic capacitor wherein a novel electrolyte is used.
2. Discussion of the Background
An electrolytic capacitor having a capacitor element prepared by rolling foils of a valve metal such as aluminum together with a separator, usually has a structure wherein an electrolyte is impregnated to the capacitor element, and such a capacitor element is accomodated and sealed in a metal casing such as an aluminum casing or in a casing made of a synthetic resin.
Heretofore, as an electrolyte for such an electrolytic capacitor, it has been common to employ an electrolyte obtained by using ethylene glycol or the like as the main solvent and dissolving therein a salt which does not corrode metal electrodes, such as an ammonium salt of a saturated organic acid, as the solute (see e.g. Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 13019/1983). However, it is common to add from 1 to 30% of water to such an electrolyte to increase the conductivity, whereby there has been a drawback that a degradation of the high temperature properties, such as a change in the tangent of loss angle (tan .delta.) or a leakage current in the high temperature storage test, is substantial due to the corrosion of the cathode foil or due to the evaporation of the dissociated ammonia (NH.sub.3). Thus, such an electrolyte is not fully satisfactory for use in the industrial equipments where a high level of reliability is required.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 78522/1984 proposes to use an electrolyte obtained by dissolving a quaternary ammonium salt of a saturated aliphatic dibasic carboxylic acid in an organic polar solvent, as an electrolyte having a high conductivity (i.e. a low electrical resistance) and stability at high temperatures. However, the quality of such an electrolyte is still inadequate for the present level of requirements.
It is also known to use an amine salt of maleic acid as an electrolyte (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 37852/1984) to obtain an electrolyte solution having a low specific resistance. However, such an electrolyte solution is still inadequate to meet the electrolyte properties presently required (specific resistance, thermal stability).